HOWZAT!

Dr Bree Gorman enjoys being part of a team. It’s why she plays cricket.

It’s also why she works for ITRI.

“I chose cricket because it’s one of the team games my injuries still let me play,” she laughs.

“I chose to join BioDeakin and now ITRI because in my old job with BioGeelong, I could see the team of first-class researchers that was being brought together here.

“As well as being head of BioDeakin then, Andrew Parratt was head of BioGeelong.

“Andrew’s a person with a vision that I could relate to, so when he asked me to come over, I guess I’d already pretty much been talked into it.

“It was also the opportunity to work with Peter Hodgson.”

Andrew Parratt is now the inaugural Executive Director and Peter Hodgson, Deakin University’s first Federation Fellow, is the Director of Research.

Bree Gorman works alongside them and the ever growing bunch of world-class researchers under the title of Business Development Officer.

“I am a conduit between industry and researchers,” Dr Gorman said.

“The major part of my role in supporting the researchers is looking at the Intellectual Property issues, how we can use that to attract more research income and also get the products that are being developed here out for public use.”

Even though ITRI has only been in existence for a year, Dr Gorman has already lodged a number of patent applications.

“We have patents pending for superhydrophobic coatings for textiles, electro-spinning of nanofibres and photochromics coatings for wool and cotton,” Dr Gorman said.

“The key players there are Xungai Wang and Tong Lin who are continually developing cutting edge research and potential products”

“We’ve also lodged some applications on behalf of Fred Pfeffer. He’s been a bit of a quiet achiever but now he is really creating a storm with his antidiabetic and antibiotic compounds.”

“It really is amazing working here. I find out about new and exciting developments in research every day.

“It really is great to be part of this team.”

Dr Gorman is a classic example of the local girl "done good".

She grew up in the Geelong suburbs of Manifold Heights, “Mano” if you’re a true local.

She got her first degree and her PhD at Deakin, the latter under the supervision of Professor Neil Barnett.

“He’s a bit of an inspiration, too, in his own way,” smiles Dr Gorman. “When I left school, I wanted to do science/law.

“Deakin probably wasn’t my first preference, but I got in here and I have never regretted it because of what I have been allowed to achieve, and because of the people I have had the privilege to work with.

“I ended up with a degree in science, but here I am now, working in patents and other aspects of science/law, and I am working on all this cutting edge, world-class research, and it only takes me four minutes to get home.

“I know someone like Christophe LeFevre, our bio-informatics specialist, really loves being here. He lives at Jan Juc and loves being able to hear the sea from his bedroom.

“That’s a fantastic advantage of working at ITRI. No traffic jams, none of the big-city problems, but yet you’re involved in work that really is out there.”

Something else that Dr Gorman finds pleasing is the growing bond between Geelong and Deakin.

“I think that’s something that has changed a lot since I first came to Deakin as a student,” she said. “These days the reputation of Deakin within the town is much, much higher and a lot of that has to do with the research work that is going on here.

“The people of Geelong are just so supportive of what we are doing.

“They may not all know a lot about science, but they know that Deakin and ITRI have an important role to play in the transition we are making as a region towards a knowledge economy.”

Howzat eh?

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